Carbin/Hughes Score Star-Trek Win

Posted: November 10, 2010 4:26 PM

Monaghan Semi-Expert duo Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes took a fine overall win on Round 2 of the National Night Navigation Championship, based in Buttevant, Co. Cork on 31st October. Martin Sheehan & Sean Daly were once again at the helm and provided a challenging 140 mile route through the forests and country lanes of North Cork. During the night, the crews would face some 30 miles of forestry lanes in the Ballyhoura Mountains as well as a mixture of flowing tarmac roads and narrow gravel tracks through the North Cork countryside. Add to that the odd farm lane, plot & bash sections and a 4am finish, all of which kept competitors on their toes all night. Dropping just 1 penalty, Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes did enough to hold off Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo (2 penalties) for the overall win. Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall completed a clean sweep for Monaghan crews in 3rd place.

Limerick brothers Alan & George Shinnors started at No.1 and led the crews out to the 1st section of the event including farm lanes into TP3 & TP4. After TP5, it was up into Ballyhoura and some classic navigation terrain. A narrow, well-hidden lane took crews into TP6 and anyone overshooting would be into TP6 with a wrong approach. Alan & George Shinnors paid the price of running as 1st car heading to TP7 as they got stuck in a ditch on a lane that proved impassable. This caused confusion among several crews and with more tricky navigation sections, narrow forestry lanes and shrouds of fog to contend with, a number of crews in trouble. Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes were faring better than most to emerge as event leaders at C13 on 1 penalty. Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo were in 2nd place on two penalties. Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes were also on two penalties to complete the top 3 overall. The event then headed on to the Ballynoe and Shanballymore areas before heading to a plot & bash section. Out at the front Kierans/McAdoo kept the pressure up on Carbin/Hughes, with both crews cleaning this section to hold station until the petrol halt. Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes had dropped back a little, but still held 3rd overall on 4 penalties. Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall were up next in 4th, followed by Joe Shinnors/Greg Shinnors in 5th place.

Many crews were having a difficult night so far. Donegal pair, Paul Doherty/Donny Riney had suspension problems, which forced necessary repairs and unfortunately missed C13 putting them out of the event. Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan had suffered two flat tyres already and a double visit at TP17 had dropped them out of contention. Also caught at TP17 were Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston, while force majeure at TP30 cost them a wrong approach. Leading novice crew were Brian McCarthy/Stephen Quinn, while in the Beginner’s class the leaders were Sean O’Regan/Eamonn McCarthy.

Departing Control C at 2.11 am, crews faced a further 25 timepoints before making their way back to Buttevant. TP103 and TP109 were at the end of muddy farm lanes, while the route into TP110 had crews battling their way against whin bushes on a lane that doesn’t see much light of day. There were more plot & bash timepoints on the forestry lanes near Coolfree Mountain, before crews made their way back up into the Ballyhoura complex. There was still no change at the top with Carbin/Hughes leading Kierans/McAdoo and Fitzgerald/Hayes. Colin Fitzgerald and Daire Hayes were in trouble heading to TP118 as they slipped off the road and beached their car. It took almost an hour before they were able to regain the road, resulting in them missing all remaining timepoints. TP119 was at the end of a very bumpy, narrow forest track which warranted a bit of caution. More fast, flowing forestry lanes followed with a particularly grassy lane into TP122 to cap things off. An SRS section completed the night and took crews back into Buttevant at 4.15 am. With no more penalties dropped, Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes secured 1st place overall by the smallest of margins from Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo who had to settle for 2nd best on this one. Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall’s first visit to Cork in a few years yielded a fine 3rd overall on 9 penalties. 4th overall went to 2009 British Rally Champion Navigator Greg Shinnors, driven by brother Joe. The top 5 were completed by Ger O’Connell/Denis O’Donovan who competed on this one in a Subaru Impreza. Just behind in 6th were Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza). Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston inherited top spot in the semi-expert class as they came home in 7th place overall.

Expert:
Five experts finished in the top six overall. Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes survived to take 6th in class, while Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors and Eoin Fitzgerald/Pat Cashman failed to finish.

Semi-Expert:
Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston inherited the class win as Carbin/Hughes took overall honours. They came out on top of a close three way battle between themselves, Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody and Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan. A bad last timecard dropped Whelton/O’Sullivan back to 3rd by the finish. Trevor O’Callaghan/Eoin Longworth endured a trying night to finish a distant 4th, with Fergus Murphy/Andrew Beamish in 5th place.

Novice:
A tight battle for class honours went the way of Brian McCarthy/Stephen Quinn who just got the better of Alwyn White/Adrian Tobin. These two crews were well ahead of the other finishers in the class and duly took 9th and 10th place overall respectively. Derek Butler/Olivia McCarthy took 3rd place in class after a strong showing on the second half of the event. Timmy Foley/Conor Collins finished 4th in class ahead of Johnny Casey/Vincent Goggin. The 6th and final crew to finish were Brian O’Mahony/Ian Stanley in their Corsa.

Beginners:
Sean O’Regan/Eamonn McCarthy took the class honours as well as a very respectable 14th overall. They were mixing it with the leading crews in the novice class and were a full 300 penalties clear of their class rivals by the finish. Local crew Stephen Lane/Gillian White just held off Longford crew Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry for 2nd place by just 1 penalty. Brian Oakes, with Arthur Kierans’s son, Macartan navigating finish 4th in class. Finghin O’Donovan/Teresa McCarthy, Michael Linehan/Trisha Hogan, Gerard McCarthy/Tommy Commane and David Beamish/Muireann Hayes completed the class finishers.

So hats off to Martin & Sean for putting together such a challenging event. Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo continue to lead the championship and will be looking for a 4th consecutive victory on round three of the championship, Monaghan Motor Club’s Drumlin Navigation Trial. This event is on the 13th/14th November and it is certainly an event that everyone wants to win.

Regulations Available

Club Website / Details

Posted: January 1, 2010 12:01 AM

Regulations and entry form will be available shortly
The event will again be based at the GAA Hall in Buttevant with check-in from 7.30pm on Saturday evening. The Trial continues to be part of the National & Munster Navigation championships.